USCIS Extends Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Validity for Certain Categories

In an effort to improve processing times of employment authorization applications (Form I-765), USCIS has announced that it will increase the validity periods for certain categories of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) to five years. 

The categories that benefit from the five-year validity period are:

  • Applicants for asylum or withholding of deportation or removal [(c)(8)];

  • Applicants for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident under INA section 245 [(c)(9)];

  • Applicants for suspension of deportation, cancellation of removal, or relief under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) [(c)(10)]; and,

  • CNMI long-term residents [(c)(37)].

Individuals in the categories listed above will be given work authorization for five years instead of one or two years, which will reduce the frequency with which they need to renew their EADs and the total number of employment authorization applications the agency receives.  It should be noted that applicants under these categories do not have to pay government filing fees for their renewal applications, which means fewer resources for processing their application.  The hope is that by reducing the number of applications the government receives, the agency will be able to improve overall adjudication times for the applications it must process.  

Applicants for employment authorization under categories not covered by the update, such as international students and H-4 spouses, will continue to receive EADs with a validity period of one to two years. 

One question that has come up for individuals applying to adjust status to lawful permanent resident is whether the five-year validity period for the EAD means that travel permission also will be granted for five years?  Until last year, the agency was issuing combo cards that allowed an applicant for adjustment of status to use the EAD for both work and international travel.  USCIS uncoupled the two benefits in order to accelerate adjudication of work authorization and stopped issuing combo cards.  If they resume the combo cards, would USCIS also give travel permission for five years? This question has been presented to the agency and we are waiting to hear back from them.  We will keep you updated. 

In the meantime, we hope this operational change will lead to improved processing times for employment authorization documents. 


The full policy update is available here.

This alert is for informational purposes only.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss these developments further. 

Nadia Yakoob